Agro-biodiversity is the foundation of climate-resilient agriculture. Discuss the roles of ex-situ genebanks and community-led conservation, with reference to Koraput.

Agro-biodiversity means the variety of crops, landraces and their wild relatives. It supplies the genes breeders use for drought, heat and pest tolerance. India has 22 agro-biodiversity hotspots [1]. Keeping this diversity needs two tracks that work together: ex-situ genebanks and community-led, on-farm conservation.

Agro-biodiversity as the base of climate resilience

• Genetic raw material: the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) has developed about 3,000 climate-resilient varieties [1].
• Risk-spreading: a diverse crop base protects against water stress, pests and diseases [1]. A monoculture fails all at once.

Role of ex-situ genebanks

• Safe storage: the National Genebank at ICAR-NBPGR is the 2nd largest in the world [1]. It guards seeds against loss in the field.
• Access for breeders: stored and documented seeds feed breeding programmes for new varieties.
• Limitation: stored seeds are frozen in time. They stop adapting to new climate and pest pressures, and the knowledge of how to use them can fade.

Role of community-led conservation

• Varieties keep adapting: landraces grown in community seed banks and field gene banks keep evolving under real farm conditions [1].
• Legal backing: the PPV&FR Act, 2001 protects farmers' right to save, sow and exchange seed (Section 39). Its National Gene Fund (Section 45) pays for benefit-sharing [3]. Nearly half of PPVFRA registrations are farmers' varieties [1].
• Limitation: there is pressure to switch to uniform high-yield seed. Recognition alone does not raise farmers' incomes [1].

Koraput: the two tracks working together

• FAO recognised Koraput as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) in 2012 [1][2]. Its tribal communities farm small plots linked to forest management [2].
• Its high biodiversity has been kept through in-situ conservation. The Jeypore tract is a secondary centre of origin of rice [2].

Koraput fields (in-situ) ──landraces──► Genebank (ex-situ backup)
        ▲                                        │
        └──── seeds returned, benefit-sharing ◄──┘

Two-way conservation loop

In short, genebanks give security and communities keep varieties evolving. Neither is enough alone. The way forward is to link genebanks with community seed banks, pay communities regularly from the Gene Fund, and use FPOs and GI branding to help conservers earn from their crops [1]. Koraput shows how this turns conservation into resilience and supports SDG 2.5 (conserving the genetic diversity of seeds and crops).